Mo Farah storms to victory in the 10000 metres

Despite nearly tripping on the last lap, Mo Farah won the 10,000 meters at the world championships on Saturday and is halfway to his third long-distance double since winning two golds at the 2012 London Olympics.

Leading into the final lap here, defending champion Farah had his heel caught by one of his Kenyan opponents and lurched forward.

Elsewhere, Laura Muir, a medal contender in the 1500m, cruised through her heat, finishing second to Ethiopia’s Besu Sado in 4:05.53.

“I honestly thought I was gone because I stumbled”.

Farah has entered these championships under painful scrutiny, as the US Anti-Doping Agency continue to investigate his association with controversial coach Alberto Salazar.

Salazar has denied all the accusations against him and Farah, who was not accused of any wrongdoing, has vowed to stick by his coach unless any allegations are proven. His best time since September 2013 is 9.87 seconds. “Because I know tomorrow, just watching the guys run fast, I know the semifinal is going to be pretty quick”.

Farah was ruthlessly focused amid a summer of speculation as he burst away from the twin Kenyan challenge of Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor and Paul Tanui down the home straight.

Another East African world record holder, Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba, was in blistering form in the heats of the women’s 1,500m, clocking four minutes 02.59 seconds for the fastest time ever in the first round at the world championships.

But his return to racing last month demonstrated he had not allowed those circumstances to affect his running, and he proved it again in the Beijing 2008 Ollympic stadium as he retained his title in 27min 01.13sec.

Speaking to the BBC after his run, he said: “I just want to thank everyone who’s supported me, my family in particular, the public and everyone, keep sending me great messages”.

Elsewhere, there were gold medals for Eritrea’s Ghirmay Ghebreslassie in the marathon and Germany’s Christina Schwanitz in the shot put.

Meanwhile, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson lead the way after the first day of action in the heptathlon.

The Chinese thrower sealed silver this time around with 20.30m, American Michelle Carter taking bronze (19.76).